At Toronto Jan. 4th, 7:00 PM

Nice win and its great to keep the streak alive. To me Flip was coaching out of fear of tomorrows game. He did not want to lose both games but the increased mins for the starters could impact that tomorrow. At least the Celtics also played.

Even if we win the championship, if Flip doesn`t give AJ some PT, he should be fired!!

I will make me a sign and protest at every Piston game I can.

Anybody with me??

Click to expand...

I want a petition for more front court depth. We saw signs in this one on what can happen. Sheed was in early foul trouble so Dyess had to practically play the whole 1st half. What if he also got into foul trouble?

Excellent post KGREG! As Pistons fans, we've been spoiled over the past 5-6 years. I think we need to stop and smell the roses a bit more. Let's enjoy the ride! (as long as the ride ends in a championship)

Yes, there is a short window of opportunity (10 minutes I think?) to edit your post after submitting it. You'll see a button next to the "quote" button on the bottom right hand side of your own posts.

If you make an edit to your post immediately after submitting it (I think within a minute), there's no way of telling that it was changed. However, if you make a change within the allowable time frame, but later than a minute after posting, you will see a "Last edited by...." line underneath your post. (see the bottom of this post for example)

Nice win and its great to keep the streak alive. To me Flip was coaching out of fear of tomorrows game. He did not want to lose both games but the increased mins for the starters could impact that tomorrow. At least the Celtics also played.

Click to expand...

What minutes are we worrying about? Rip was the only one kind of high with 39, but he's supposedly the best conditioned player on the team. Nobody else got more than 35 minutes. Last year we'd have all the starters at or more than 40.

What minutes are we worrying about? Rip was the only one kind of high with 39, but he's supposedly the best conditioned player on the team. Nobody else got more than 35 minutes. Last year we'd have all the starters at or more than 40.

I really feel sorry for some of you guys, I really do. 11th win in a row. On the road. Against a playoff team. Tor has a lot of youth, I remember when teams like that used to make us look old, I remember when ALL of our starters had to play extended mins just to eek out a win against a team like that. Tonight we go on the road and beat a good young playoff team by 16 pts, we scored over 100 and held them to 85!!! Only one starter played extended mins, Rip, and it's not like thay've had to do that very often. Our bench outscored theirs 25-5!!!! Our bench rotation consists Stuck-21, AA-21, Jayes-26, & Max-25, and they all played and contributed in a positive way, what the heck is wrong with some of you people.

We have no way of knowing how well the playoffs are going to be until they get here, so why not enjoy the sheer entertainment of watching the team you love kick the crap out of the opposition on a nightly basis. You guys are crying about 10mins of combined playing time for Amir and AA......UNREAL!!!!!

Amir will play, lets see how things play out after the all-star break before we send the Mob after Flip.

Right now Flip does not trust a backcourt of AA and Stuck. Stuck is far more integral to our success this season than AA. Stuck is necessary while AA is icing on the cake. In about a month Stuckey will be very comfortable running the team and at that point AA's mins will indeed go back up. And we will also begin to integrate Amir into the mix, the plan is so obvious it's not even funny. RELAX!!!!!!

Click to expand...

We enjoy the heck out of seeing our team win a championship. And conversely, we hate seeing our team going down the path of mediocraty. If you honestly think we are going down the right path, more power to you, but just because you got your rose colored glasses on, forgive us if we see things as they are.

I absolutely loved watching us win. I loved watching Rip hit his shots, Sheed nail those threes, Billups, with some extra rest lately, looked extra sharp. And I loved that. Lots of fun to watch these things. But yeah, got kind of mad about some things too. After the game, guess what. The warm fuzzies don't last that long from a regular season win, because knowing we ain't going anywhere at this rate just hurts. If you can't figure out what we are talking about, go back just two years. We were pushing for 70 wins. Some of us back then said that was meaningless. Playoff preparation is what counts. Nothing has changed.

You still have the fans who will cheer on mediocraty, while bashing us fans who want more from our team. Pick a side.

We all know what went well (the players). But even in winning 11 in a row, Flip gets on my nerves. He absolutely MUST bring the bench in earlier in the 1st and 3rd quarters. There are very few teams in the league with the kind of depth on this roster, and there are very few teams that run their starters through the entire 1st and 3rd quarter and then some.

The Pistons would be in a much better situation every night if Flip started bringing guys in at the 4-5 minute mark of the 1st and 3rd. That way they'd have a solid 8-9 minutes or so before Flip gets scared @ the 7-8 minute mark in the 4th. As is, they come in early in the 4th, and only have a matter of a couple minutes before Flip yanks them for the starters.

And Primoz on Andrea Bargnani?? Does Flip think just because he's tall and white that Primoz can guard him? Amir is a much better matchup there. Bargs is a perimeter player. Does playing out of control really win you the minutes on this team, or does Flip just dislike Amir by default?

Dice with 34 minutes again in a game where he didn't really have it going. He's up to about 31mpg for the year. He is not made for that. These 30+ minute games should be coming in June, not January.

Regarding Amir Johnson: If I'm Bill Davidson I'm wondering why a guy I'm paying $3 million is sitting on the bench and not being developed except in practice.

Bill to Joe D: "Now, Joe, we made a big deal about re-signing this guy for three years. I don't want to meddle, but as the owner of this team I'm beginning to get curious as to what I am paying for. You may remember that we drafted another guy No. 2 a few years back and he only played in garbage time, too. I want to know what I'm paying for. I'm happy with the team's performance and the stands are filled, but what about the future? In my business, I have always utiltized short-term assets but have also developed long term ones as well. Why can't my basketball team do the same?"

Fact of the matter is, Amir could have definitely played a few minutes last night and given that the Pistons were on the front end of a back to back, AJ shoulda been in there instead of Brezec. Flip's an idiot. There are only certain guys he trusts. He's not willing to let people go in there and mess up to learn anything. Gotta side with Lee on this one, the kid needs to be allowed to make some mistakes and play. Like dlev says, I don't think this matters much in the scheme of winning a 'ship. But it matters down the road. There's too much emphasis on the here and now.

And with the Pistons playing with so much confidence now, they could probably overcome some Amir screw-ups.

Regarding Amir Johnson: If I'm Bill Davidson I'm wondering why a guy I'm paying $3 million is sitting on the bench and not being developed except in practice.

Bill to Joe D: "Now, Joe, we made a big deal about re-signing this guy for three years. I don't want to meddle, but as the owner of this team I'm beginning to get curious as to what I am paying for. You may remember that we drafted another guy No. 2 a few years back and he only played in garbage time, too. I want to know what I'm paying for. I'm happy with the team's performance and the stands are filled, but what about the future? In my business, I have always utiltized short-term assets but have also developed long term ones as well. Why can't my basketball team do the same?"

Fact of the matter is, Amir could have definitely played a few minutes last night and given that the Pistons were on the front end of a back to back, AJ shoulda been in there instead of Brezec. Flip's an idiot. There are only certain guys he trusts. He's not willing to let people go in there and mess up to learn anything. Gotta side with Lee on this one, the kid needs to be allowed to make some mistakes and play. Like dlev says, I don't think this matters much in the scheme of winning a 'ship. But it matters down the road. There's too much emphasis on the here and now.

And with the Pistons playing with so much confidence now, they could probably overcome some Amir screw-ups.

Click to expand...

I think that flip doesn't like amir's game. It would have been perfect to put amir in instead of brezec.

We all know what went well (the players). But even in winning 11 in a row, Flip gets on my nerves. He absolutely MUST bring the bench in earlier in the 1st and 3rd quarters. There are very few teams in the league with the kind of depth on this roster, and there are very few teams that run their starters through the entire 1st and 3rd quarter and then some.

The Pistons would be in a much better situation every night if Flip started bringing guys in at the 4-5 minute mark of the 1st and 3rd. That way they'd have a solid 8-9 minutes or so before Flip gets scared @ the 7-8 minute mark in the 4th. As is, they come in early in the 4th, and only have a matter of a couple minutes before Flip yanks them for the starters.

And Primoz on Andrea Bargnani?? Does Flip think just because he's tall and white that Primoz can guard him? Amir is a much better matchup there. Bargs is a perimeter player. Does playing out of control really win you the minutes on this team, or does Flip just dislike Amir by default?

Dice with 34 minutes again in a game where he didn't really have it going. He's up to about 31mpg for the year. He is not made for that. These 30+ minute games should be coming in June, not January.

Click to expand...

I agree. He needs to trust the bench more; and I don't get why Arron couldn't have played more - the kid has proven he can play and has earned a spot in the rotation - but he only got 4 minutes. And, I don't buy the argument that Flip doesn't play Amir because his defense isn't good enough - because if that were the case, Brezec, whose defense is like a sieve, would not be playing ahead of him. I agree with Lee, max and ggazoo on this: A 3-big man rotation won't be enough come playoffs. I agree that Flippy does seem to dislike Amir - he never rewards him for good performances and when he does compliment him, it's always with some veiled criticism thrown in.

Regarding Bill Davidson's thoughts: I'm wondering how Joe Dumars is able to make me 25 million per season. "This franchise thing is really a cash cow." "Who's the guy in the suit". "My program says his name is Flip Saunders". "Hmmmmm.......nice Suit" "Those guys playing are really tall" "Amir........an interesting name"..........

He has to add about 15 lbs of muscle before next fall and keep working on his defense. The problem is, is that he just keeps growing so his muscular development can't catch up to the growth in his height. LOL

I think Flip knew he could play his bigs a little more and go with a shorter rotation because BOS was playing Memphis. Garnett and Perkins are going to be tired from going against Darko. He helped hold them to 10-15 shooting last night.

I don't know if my eyes are lying to me, but I do not think that AJ is 6'11". If he was I think he would play more.

I think Flip knew he could play his bigs a little more and go with a shorter rotation because BOS was playing Memphis. Garnett and Perkins are going to be tired from going against Darko. He helped hold them to 10-15 shooting last night.

I don't know if my eyes are lying to me, but I do not think that AJ is 6'11". If he was I think he would play more.

Click to expand...

I will still rely on AK opinion as to the height of our player's

The problem that most people make in looking at AJ's height is that they think that Sheed is 6'11" when in fact he is at least 7'

The problem that most people make in looking at AJ's height is that they think that Sheed is 6'11" when in fact he is at least 7'

Click to expand...

I hear you, it is not like I think they're lying. I'm not measuring him against Sheed. They're not on the floor together that often. He seems significantly shorter to me than most players they list at 6'11".